During the visit by the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) to the Department of Public Works on Thursday 01 August 2013, t he members of Parliament decried the extent of the irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditures currently (and correctly) being verified and possibly investigated in the department.
What astounded the members was the apparent callousness with which the public servants would mismanage the public funds entrusted to them, leading members to suspect corruption as well as question the existence of the internal control systems and the disciplinary steps to isolate and punish the guilty ones.
Repeatedly since 2009 / 10, the department has been incurring negative audit reports from the Auditor-General, often citing over and over again the same causes including irregular expenditures, incomplete immoveable asset register and the failure to institutionalise the Property Management Trading Entity (PMTE), among the chief reasons.
However, following the brief by the Minister and the presentation by the Director-General, the members conceded in unison that there was discernible progress thanks to the Turn-Around interventions. According to the Chairperson, Mr Themba Godi (MP), there was “political will and commitment” and “leadership stability had returned to Top Management.”
In his welcoming address to the members, the Minister, Mr. TW Nxesi (MP), gave an update on the legacy issues. Through the intervention of the Turn-Around, he said, critical projects were being implemented in the short-term to stabilize the department and overturn the adverse audit findings, notably the disclaimers of the past two financial years.
Some of the measures according to Mr. Nxesi included the overhaul of the archaic lease contract management system, the completion of an audit compliant Immoveable Asset Register, the fight against fraud and corruption as well as “the restructuring of the department to respond to the core business of the organisation which is in the main, property management,” hence the urgency to embed the PMTE in the department.
Earlier in the day, the members of SCOPA went on a site visit to the 1 military project in Thaba Tshwane and were showed around the massive project which the Department of Public Works was carrying out on behalf of the Department of Defence. Following their meeting with Top Management, the members visited the Finance section in the department albeit to get a glimpse of this operational pressure room.
SCOPA then requested for a special occasion soon with the department to delve particularly onto issues of irregular expenditure to isolate underlying causes but most importantly to give effect to disciplinary and other legal actions against any liable officials.
Speaking to the media on departure, Mr Godi said : “We are satisfied with the progress that has been made and the energy and conviction shown by top management, though the department is not yet transformed to where we need it to be. We also appreciate the openness with which the leadership is approaching this problem, because there is no attempt to create false pictures and impressions, and this will assist all of us to appreciate and contribute to the turnaround drive.”
